Monday, July 28, 2008

Oregon wine route, day 1

The IPNC finished at noon, and I hit the road. I had a bit of a scare as I packed: I couldn't find my good buddy Garmin anywhere. Then I realized that in my jet-lagged state on Friday I must have left him at the hotel reception desk. So I asked if anyone had handed in a Sat Nav. Blank stares. Went back to the room to double check. Came back and asked whether a GPS had been handed in. 'Oh yes. Here it is.'

First stop was Brick House, a biodynamic winery run by ex-CBS news guy Doug Tunnell. It was a lovely visit, and Doug even took the temperature of his compost heap for me (above). Oregon wine country is quite beautiful, with rolling hills and warm but not excessively hot summer days. Doug's property is just idyllic.

Then it was time for a long drive down to King Estate (above), which is near Eugene, just past the end of the Willamette Valley. It took over two hours, but was worth it - King Estate is a truly beautiful place. It's a large operation, with more than 1000 acres, of which over 400 are planted to vines. It's the largest single contiguous organic vineyard in the USA, and probably the new world. Are there any bigger organic vineyards in Europe? I had a lovely dinner last night with the Japanese importers, and this morning I'm finishing my visit here and then heading off on the road again.

5 Comments:

King Estate is the largest in our area that went organic. There's another designation - Certified Sustainable - that seems the more popular choice. In the Southern Willamette Valley I know of Benton-Lane, Territorial and Dylan's Run (the 1st actually) to go that far. Chateau Lorane (just a short walk from King Estate) carries an organic line that is popular here at the restaurant.